Background: African-Americans (AAs) are least likely to receive a live donor kidney transplant, and AAs account for < 20% of all live donors. Differences in education and culture contributing to this disparity may be overcome by the Live Donor Champion (LDC) educational and instrumental support program.

Methods: To participate, candidates had to be active on the waitlist for >6 months and have no potential live donors. Some candidates were encouraged to identify a friend or family member to act as an LDC. Candidates (and the LDCs) participated in six educational and training sessions. Comfort initiating conversations about live donation was measured at every session. Linear regression was used to determine the association between comfort and race, adjusting for age, sex, and participant type.

Results: In total, 74 candidates and LDCs participated in the pilot from 2010-2014. By design, 65.1% participated with a LDC and 34.8% participated alone. There was a statistically significant increase in comfort initiating conversations about live donation for candidates participating alone, candidates participating with a LDC, and LDCs (Figure 1) (p< 0.001). AA participants experienced a similar increase in comfort as non-AAs (p=0.6).

Conclusions: The LDC Program increases comfort initiating conversations about live donation, regardless of race. Combining education with instrumental support seems a potentially effective way to help AAs overcome barriers to live donation.

« Back to 2015 American Transplant Congress